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Month: May 2016

So-called return to form is more like a Weezer impression than an album by the actual band. Rivers’ ability to write earworms that stick after only one listen is still present, but one wonders why he didn’t do this for every song. Hire Ric Ocasek or don’t bother.

A mixture of their most beautiful and most brutal music to date, Gore is Deftones solidifying their name as a consistenly great metal act. A truly interesting metal record is tough to come by these days, so appreciate them when they do arrive.

Country music’s best kept secret follows up a fantastic bluegrass record in the only way he can: he throws out the banjos and adds ’60s Mowtown brass and ’70s hard rock guitar. Simpson writes memorable melodies, but they’re not like the ear candy heard on country radio; these songs take a few listens to fully appreciate. No self-respecting producer woulda let Simpson stray this far from a winning formula like Metamodern Sounds, and for good reason. That Simpson self-produced this brilliant album just makes you appreciate him as an artist even more.

Aesop Rock | The Impossible Kid

Hip-hop’s wordiest MC releases his leanest and best record to date, a month before he turns 40. Rap is NOT a young man’s game anymore. (Was it ever?) All beats by Rock himself and not a single guest verse would be a gamble for a lesser artist. Being that Rock is among the most fascinating voices in music, that decision was a a logical one. Hopefully we don’t have to wait four years for a follow-up.

In which Aesop finds something that’s eluded him for 20 years: a record without bloat. Much like Skelethon, TIK is a one-man show with the paranoid synth self-production and no guest verses. It’s also Rock’s most personal offering to date, and his least obtuse. Kid lacks anything as visceral as “Zero Dark Thirty” or as hypnotic as “None Shall Pass”, and better for it. No one song stands above the rest, allowing the songs to hang together as a cohesive whole. Aesop turns 40 in a month, and somehow made a career-high album while showing no signs of rust.